A Mother's Gift by Maggie Hope Page B

it was a lousy day and she was getting more and more wet and cold. She went with him.
    ‘All right for some,’ said a woman through the shawl that muffled her head. There was a murmur of agreement as the queue watched Katie enviously as Lawson held open the car door for her.

Chapter Ten
     
    THE INTERIOR OF the car was warm and cosy with real leather seats and deep upholstery to sink into. Lawson closed the door after her and went round to the driver’s seat. The car set off, gliding through the slush, down Newgate Street and out on to the Darlington road. Katie had murmured a thank you as she got into the car and Matthew had smiled and inclined his head but apart from that nothing was said until they were on the open road.
    Katie began to relax. She might as well enjoy it, she told herself. Car rides were a luxury she didn’t experience very often. And though the snow was beginning to lie out here in the country, it was not enough to cause a problem.
    ‘You have been to see your family?’
    He had been silent for so long that when he spoke Katie jumped.
    ‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘At Winton Colliery,’ she added. ‘I’m grateful to you for giving me a ride, I have a lecture at eleven.’
    ‘It’s no trouble. I am visiting a friend in Bishop Auckland and I have to go back to Middlesbrough anyway.’
    ‘Well, thank you anyway, Mr Hamilton.’ Katie had to stop herself from adding ‘sir’. She glanced over at him; he was gazing at her, perhaps staring was the right word. She felt her cheeks redden; had she a smut on her nose? Did the scarf she had tied round her hat on the bus stand look common? She loosened it and laid it on her shoulders.
    ‘It’s warm in here,’ she said.
    ‘Not too warm, I hope?’ He leaned forward as though to issue instructions to the chauffeur then sat back as she shook her head hurriedly.
    ‘No, I like it.’
    In fact her toes were at last beginning to thaw and she felt fine. Except that she would not be able to revise. She looked down at the bag containing her notes. Well, she would probably be at the hospital early enough to look them over.
    ‘Your grandfather is Noah Benfield, isn’t he? A good worker, according to Thompson.’ He did not add that Thompson had also said, ‘Though he takes Mondays off when he’s on fore shift. But he works hard enough to make up for it during the rest of the week.’
    ‘Yes.’ Katie looked down at her hands. Had he been making inquiries about her? It sounded like it. ‘How is Mrs Hamilton? Recovered, I hope?’ The words sounded stilted in her own ears, what was she doing talking like that? But Matthew didn’t want to talk about Mary Anne.
    He nodded briefly, ‘Quite well, thank you.’
    The road was becoming a little bumpy and they could feel the bumps even in this well-sprung Bentley. Outside the snow was falling faster. He saw her watching it anxiously.
    ‘Don’t worry we’ll get there. It is not usually too bad nearer the coast,’ he reassured her. The car lurched and Katie was thrown against him and he put out a hand to steady her, holding her arm. She looked down at his hand, it wasn’t at all as she would have thought the hand of a gentleman to be. Though the nails were well shaped and manicured, there were calluses on the insides of his fingers and his palms as though he were used to working manually. She could feel the rough parts against the back of her hand. She looked at the hand and then up at his face. Matthew smiled and let go of her.
    Katie looked out at the snow, feeling confused. It was all so unreal, especially after spending her day off at Winton Colliery. He was simply grateful to the nursing staff at the hospital, she told herself. Trying to pay something back. That was it.
    They were through Darlington now and out on the road to Stockton. The snow was thicker and the car slid sideways but kept going.
    ‘Lawson?’
    ‘I’m sorry sir.’
    He was very much the boss, Katie thought. Authority radiated from him. She